Former Microsoft security analyst claims Office 365 has knowingly harbored malware for years
A former Microsoft security analyst claimed that Office 365 had knowingly harbored malware on its service for years. It comes even as cybersecurity researcher TheAnalyst said on Twitter that the BazarLoader malware can lead to ransomware that can affect the healthcare industry, among others.
World’s Best Malware Host
Following this description, he called Microsoft asking if the company had “any responsibility in this regard” because it “knowingly” hosted a number of files that could lead to the problem. The malicious files are apparently hosted in OneDrive.
TheAnalyst’s claims are now backed up by Kevin Beaumont, a former security analyst at Microsoft, who has come forward to say that the tech giant has no right to call itself a “security leader,” since OneDrive and Office 365 have both been abused for years, despite its security workforce spanning up to 8,000 workers and “billions of signals.”
He went on to say that removing items from OneDrive is nothing short of a nightmare because it’s so slow, further fueling Microsoft’s position as “the world’s best malware host for about a decade thanks. to O365 â€.
Google, Cloudfare among the best malware hosting networks
Image credits: Nicolas Economou via Getty Images
At the same time, the problem is not limited to Microsoft, as research carried out by the Bern University of Applied Sciences has revealed that Cloudfare and Google are among the main networks for hosting malware online. Besides these two, the list also includes China Unicom and ChinaNet in China, Hathway Net in India, MTNL and BSNL among others.
As such, it won’t be fair to just blame Microsoft, and rather, the need of the hour is to hold the entire tech industry accountable.
The United States has had a difficult year in the face of ransomware attacks, even as the Biden administration pledged to improve the situation. Earlier this year, Colonial Pipeline was hacked by the DarkSide group, and it was among the first cases of ransomware attacks in 2021. Countries like Russia and, to some extent, China have been implicated by the White House to facilitate such attacks and support cybercriminals, and POTUS Joe Biden has pledged to take tough action against perpetrators, even as lawmakers continue to discuss legislative reforms that could make it harder for actors to access malicious to systems important to the country’s national security.
Source: hot material